Main Street in Houston has a rich, interesting history and in the last several years lots of new bars have been opening up down there, in addition to some of the city's more perennial spots. The Madness on Main Street Festival is coming up on next Saturday and will feature lots of local bands playing at Continental Club and nearby venues.
With Houston's METRORail, you can take the train down Main to all of the spots on our list in a fun bar-hopping excursion one night with friends, or just pick your favorite spot to visit and chill out in all night long. However you get down there and whatever bars you decide to check out, it's kind of fun to listen to Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band's "Mainstreet" as you travel down Main. Trust us, just do it.
Note: This list is in numerical order by street address.
THE HONEYMOON CAFÉ & BAR The Honeymoon Cafe & Bar is one of the great places in Downtown Houston to people-watch; the location at the corner of Main and Congress can provide a view of downtown office workers, party people and musical street performers coming and going, depending on what time you visit. Honeymoon delivers good coffee and craft cocktails, as well as being a spot to grab some breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can arrive early in the morning and stay until late at night here if you want to; Honeymoon is a good one-stop destination for all of your dining and drinking needs throughout the day, and don't forget about the dessert menu.
300 Main, thehoneymoonhtx.com
MOVING SIDEWALK The downtown cocktail bar Moving Sidewalk is named after a band that Billy Gibbons was in before ZZ Top; he even stopped by once to check the place out, according to a bartender we spoke with. The name also reflects the sidewalk out in front on Main near Congress, which has become very busy with all of the new bars opening up in the area. Moving Sidewalk serves a selection of wine and beer, but the main attraction is the specialty handcrafted cocktails; the bar is also known for its high-quality, crystal-clear hand-cut ice, which the owners are now selling to other bars as well through their new company called Ice Age.
306 Main, facebook.com/Moving-Sidewalk
THE NIGHTINGALE ROOM The Nightingale Room serves up classic cocktails, house drinks, beer and wine; for music lovers, patrons can choose a vinyl LP from the bar's collection of some 2,000 (list provided), or bring in their own from home and the bartender on duty will play it. Nightingale also has started hosting live music on Thursday nights, where the bands play upstairs on a loft above the bar that is normally a customer lounge; the bar even has a call elevator to send drinks up on. Upcoming shows include Quiet Company, Wild Moccasins with special guests Young Mammals, and Louisiana singer-songwriter Maggie Koerne.
308 Main, nightingaleroom.com
CAPTAIN FOXHEART'S BAD NEWS BAR & SPIRIT LOUNGE This upstairs bar offers up a nice balcony view of Main Street and the METRORail down below, besides one of the coolest bar names in Houston; Captain Foxheart's Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge is not very big inside but the handcrafted specialty cocktails like the Darth Bitterman and the Pile of Pink keep the regulars happy and coming back for more. Vinyl records and a player are behind the bar for your listening pleasure, and a small menu of craft beers are on sale as well if you just don't do cocktails.
308 Main, Floor 2 facebook.com/BadNewsBar
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